Mandatory Minimums

This pill bottle fulls of opiate pain pills could get you 20 years or more in North Carolina. (wikimedia.org)

North Carolina Opium Law Snares Small Prescription Pain Pill Holders

A North Carolina law aimed at heroin traffickers is rolling up people with pain pills and sending them to prison for a long, long time.

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New Canadian Drug Reform Coalition Emerges [FEATURE]

Even as the Canadian federal government presses ahead with its draconian crime and drugs bill, a new coalition for Canadian drug reform has emerged.

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Supreme Court Takes Up Crack "Pipeline" Sentencing Cases

Should people convicted of federal crack offenses before the Fair Sentencing Act was in effect, but sentenced after it was in effect, be sentenced under the new law or not? The US Supreme Court says it will decide.

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Federal Crack Cocaine Prisoners Start Coming Home [FEATURE]

The first hundreds of what could be more than 12,000 federal crack offenders to win retroactive sentence reductions began walking out of federal prisons Tuesday, but there is much more work to do.

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Canada Mandatory Minimum Crime Bill Set to Pass [FEATURE]

It looks like Canada's Conservative government is finally going to get the ugly crime bill it has long wanted. That will mean mandatory minimums for growing as few as six marijuana plants.

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Why Mandatory Minimum Sentencing is Wrong and Bad

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uphill climb for reform this year

Drug Policy Prospects on Capitol Hill This Year [FEATURE]

Between now and the seating of a new Congress after the 2012 elections, drug reform is going to be a tough slog on Capitol Hill. But that doesn't mean reformers are going away, or that there aren't battles to be fought and won.

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ALERT: Congress Must Pass Sentencing Reform

Congress took a modest step last year to reforming the draconian federal sentences it put in place 25 years ago for drug offenses. More is needed, and your help is needed to make that happen.

Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary Hearing

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Federal Correctional Institution Milan, Milan, Michigan. Soon there will be room at the inn. (Image: Wikimedia.org)

Federal Crack Prisoners Will Get Sentence Cuts [FEATURE]

A lot of federal crack prisoners are going to get out early after the US Sentencing Commission made sentencing guideline amendments reducing crack sentences retroactive. That's a big deal.

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